West Ham United co-owner David Gold has defended the club's big-money offer for Ruud van Nistelrooy.

The Hammers made their offer to the new Hamburg signing, despite their perilous financial state, insisting the player's ability and the length of contract on offer meant it was not a great risk.

"Let me just state on the record that there is a big difference when you are paying a player £100,000 for four months to paying someone £50,000 for a four-year contract," he told Sky Sports News.

"I wouldn't want people to say we were mad to be paying £100,000, if we were paying that on a four or five-year contract maybe we would be mad but for a super player like that I felt, and David Sullivan felt, it was good business.

"We've really gone the extra mile and what we must be pleased about, what I'm pleased about as a West Ham fan, is that we have stopped the sale of two, maybe three top players.

"That is the main prize and the bonus is if we can now bring in one or two players."